April 30, 2013 -- With his family’s Top Fuel team stuck in a 12-race slump, Steve Torrence made a gut-wrenching decision Monday night when he released Richard Hogan, his crew chief and longtime friend.

“We have not been performing as well as we should be,” Torrence said Tuesday. “We felt we needed to make that personnel change . . . and go in a different direction. There’s nothing definite yet about what we’re doing.”

“We aren’t parking the car. We will continue to race and we will be in Atlanta.”

The Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals are May 3-5 at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce. Ga.

It was at Atlanta a year ago when Torrence celebrated his first NHRA Top Fuel triumph. His Capco Contractors Inc. Top Fuel team then won at Englishtown, N.J. and Seattle in five final rounds in its first season. He was fourth in series points going into the final six 2012 races but slipped to ninth after a lackluster showing that continued into 2013.

Currently, Torrence Racing has only two round wins and one DNQ for the season. He is also outside the prestigious Top 10 in 13th position.

“We can’t wait any longer if we want to have a shot at the championship,” he said. “We must get into the top 10 by the time the Countdown starts or we are out. Fortunately, if we do get in the top 10, we can still win the title. That’s why my family is making this change now.

“We will continue concentrating on making our team better and turning things around,” concluded Torrence.